


It was a moment.

by caitlesshea



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Confessions, M/M, Memories, Moments, Wild Pony, alien glass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-01
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-11-07 18:51:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17966114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caitlesshea/pseuds/caitlesshea
Summary: It seems that none of them can escape that night ten years ago. So what happens when Alex & Michael confront these long awaited moments? Confessions of love ensue.





	It was a moment.

**Author's Note:**

> I have so many thoughts about 1x06 that I have yet to unpack (except baby!Malex because...SWOON) but I do have these two takeaways.
> 
> 1\. Jesse Manes needs to die a slow, horrible, painful death. Preferably at the hands of one of our two alien killers. But I'm not picky.
> 
> and
> 
> 2\. Max Evans needs to stop hitting Michael.

“I’m here to talk about Isobel. We never talked about that night. Why she did what she did.” Max says to him as he leans on a lawn chair. 

 

Michael sighs. He does  _ not _ want to talk about that night. He’s done enough talking about it after telling the real story to Isobel. 

 

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore tonight.” Michael takes a swig of his beer. He looks at Max through the fire, imploring him to understand.

 

“Anymore?”

 

_ Dammit.  _ “Yeah man. After Noah left she broke down. I had to tell her. I  _ had  _ too.” He really hopes Max understands. He looks up and sees Max sit down heavy into a chair.

 

“I told Liz.” 

 

“Are you kidding me?!” Michael is  _ not _ in the mood for this. Couldn’t Max ever keep his mouth shut?

 

“She needed to know.”

 

“No she didn’t.” 

 

“Michael.” 

 

Michael shakes his head as he finishes his beer. He pulls his left hand up to rub across his face. He’s so tired. He looks over at Max who has a strange look on his face.

 

“What?” He snaps at him. 

 

“You never did tell me what really happened to your hand that night.”

 

“You never asked.” And wasn’t that the kicker? Isobel had believed his lies but Max knew they were lies and he still didn’t ask. He never tried to heal him. Just went on acting like Michael really  _ was _ the killer. 

 

“If I could go back…” Max trails off and then seems to shake himself out of it.

 

“Well we can’t go back.” 

 

“Michael.” Why does Max always say his name like he’s disappointed in him?

 

“What happened to your hand that night?”

 

“It’s nothing for you to worry about.” 

 

“Michael. What happened?”

 

“Why do you suddenly care?!” He’s at the end of his rope. The last couple of weeks weighing heavily on him.

 

“I’ve always cared!” 

 

Michael scoffs. If Max had told him that at the diner that day all those years ago, he would’ve believed him. But now? 

 

“Michael. I’m asking now. What happened to your hand that night?” 

 

The words are lodged in his throat. He’s never had to say them out loud. Even back then. Even when he saw Alex again for the first time after that night, with the bruises fresh around his eye and the imprint of fingers around his neck. Other than helping him re-bandage his hand,  _ they’ve _ never talked about it. So how does he talk about it now? The best day and worst day of his life. Everything with Isobel  _ almost  _ drowned out the pain of the hammer coming down onto his hand.

 

“Michael?”

 

He sighs. What he wouldn’t give for more beer or nail polish remover right now.

 

“It was a moment…” He lets the words hang in the air. He knows Max will eventually get the reference. 

 

“After the diner…” 

 

He nods and laughs. “Would you believe that before this happened…” He holds up his hand. “That was the best day of my life.”

 

Max makes a strangled sound. Michael shakes his head and runs a hand through his curls. 

 

“What happened?” Max asks him quietly. And for a moment, he’s transported back ten years. Not just to the tool shed but to a time when he and Max were friends. And told each other everything. Well… _ almost _ everything. 

 

“We had one moment. One perfect moment. It was a moment…” He chokes up and leans forward. His forearms resting on his knees. He looks down at the ground. He startles slightly when he feels Max’s hand on his shoulder, making him jump. He didn’t even realize that Max had moved seats. Max doesn’t say anything and Michael is grateful. It takes him a moment to gather his thoughts. Ten years of keeping a secret,  _ another _ secret, and he doesn’t know if he can share this one.

 

“You know where I was staying then?” He says instead. 

 

“I know you hated that last foster home. And you were just waiting until you aged out of the system.” Max shakes his head like he’s trying to get the cobwebs off of long buried memories. Michael looks over at him and straightens in his seat.

 

“I was staying in my truck.” Max sucks in a breath.

 

“Alex...he…” Michael sighs. 

 

“He did this to you?!” 

 

“What? No! God no.” Michael widens his eyes almost comically. That anyone could think that Alex is capable of that kind of hatred is laughable.

 

“Then what…”

 

“His dad.” Michael breathes out.  _ Wow _ . That feels...freeing. In a way he didn’t know it would.

 

“Master Sergeant Manes?” 

 

Michael nods his head. 

 

“I don’t understand…” 

 

“I was staying in my truck. And Alex knew. He let me crash in the tool shed behind his house when it was cold.” He smiles at the memories that come back to him. The conversations. The guitar lessons. 

 

“He’s who you were talking about? When you said  _ you know those moments?”  _ Max asks him. Michael’s grateful he hasn’t removed his hand from his shoulder. It feels like a welcome weight tethering him here, to this conversation.

 

He nods his head and smiles. 

 

“I left the diner and found him at the museum.” He smiles bigger at this memory. Their first kiss.

 

“We ended up back in the tool shed. It was…” Michael trails off. He feels Max squeeze his shoulder. He looks at him finally, seeing only compassion and understanding in his eyes. 

 

“Perfect. You know?” Max nods at him.

 

“And his dad. He found us afterwards. He. God. The look in his eyes. Alex was terrified. I was terrified. And he grabbed Alex by the throat and shoved him against a wall. And I couldn’t take it. I couldn’t stand to see him hurt Alex. And I dragged him off and he grabbed me and…” He takes a deep breath in. Now that the truth is almost entirely out there, he feels like he can’t stop the flow of words.

 

“He pinned my hand to a work table and took a hammer to it…” He trails off. He sags back into the chair. Max’s hand tightens on his shoulder and he sees the lights in his Airstream flicker. 

 

“I’ll kill him.” Max is seething. Michael’s momentarily speechless. His hand aches in a way it hasn’t in almost ten years. And his heart feels like it’s been ripped in two. The love he has for Max, usually buried pretty deep in his heart, is threatening to overflow. He reaches up with his scarred hand and grabs the hand on his shoulder.

 

“No more death.” He whispers to Max. That seems to settle him. The lights stop flickering and Max finally releases a breath. 

 

“I…”

 

“It’s okay. It was a long time ago. And we had other things to deal with.” He looks pointedly at Max.

 

“That’s no excuse. I should’ve asked. I knew you were lying and I didn’t ask. I should’ve healed you. I should’ve known where you were staying. Hell I should’ve known you were in love with Alex. I mean thinking back. It makes so much sense…”

 

Michael shrugs. 

 

“You never said anything?” Michael shakes his head  _ no _ .

 

“He left. For the Air Force.” Max is apparently stating the obvious. Michael nods his head. 

 

“And now he’s back.” 

 

“Yes. Very observant of you.” Michael isn’t entirely sure where this is going.

 

“Have you…?” Michael nods his head. 

 

“Damn… why haven’t I seen him around lately?” 

 

“Ehh. He ended things again.” Michael shrugs. This newest wound making his chest ache.

 

“What? Why?” 

 

“Too much to unpack tonight man.” Michael doesn’t want to keep talking about this. 

 

“Michael…”

 

“No Max. I can’t okay? Let me grab Isobel. So we can talk about what you really came here to talk about.” He gets up to go to the trailer.

 

“Michael.”

 

He turns around to look at Max.

 

“Please man.” He knows he’s begging. He doesn’t care though.

 

He sees Max nod his head once and he’s forever grateful. There’s only so much he can handle in one night. And now relaying this to Isobel and finding out what happened to make Max cave and tell Liz has to take precedence. 

 

**~~~**

 

Alex heads to the Wild Pony slightly wary. He knows he’s been avoiding Maria. Avoiding everyone really, since that night at the drive in. He sighs as he opens the door and heads inside. He smiles when he sees Liz and Maria at a table with their heads bent together laughing.  _ Some things never change. _

 

“Alex!” Maria shouts at him and runs over to hug him, Liz close behind. 

 

“So glad we could finally get you out of that cabin.” Maria’s shaking her head at him. 

 

“Sorry about that.” He walks over to the table.

 

“It’s okay.” Liz looks at him with compassion. They always did understand each other without having to say much. 

 

“So what were you laughing about before I came in?” Both of them laughing again. 

 

“Kyle actually. Liz was telling me about their latest  _ escapades  _ since she got that job at the hospital.” 

 

“Congratulations.” He for one, is glad she’s staying in Roswell. She smiles at him.

 

“So… you and Kyle huh?” Alex isn’t even upset. It seems like Kyle is a better person now, than he was back then.

 

“Yeah…” Liz is hesitant.

 

“It’s fine. Really. We’ve…well he’s apologized.” Alex shrugs. 

 

“Really? That makes me feel better.” Liz smiles.

 

“He is a lot nicer.” Maria says like she knows. She probably does know. 

 

“Well that’s better than Prom. I still can’t believe you two got into it.” Liz’s face twists into a momentary grimace.

 

“Yeah but didn’t you tell me Guerin saved the day?” Maria asks them with an incredulous look on her face. 

 

“Yeah he does that.” Alex says before he can think to stop himself. 

 

Both Liz and Maria are staring at him.

 

“What do you mean?” Liz asks him. She’s got a weird look on her face that he can’t place. 

 

“Nothing.” He knows lying to them is futile. They’ll pull the truth from him one way or another. But they don’t even know he and Michael had a  _ thing _ . If you could even call it that.

 

“Alex...what do you mean? Cause let me tell you. He starts more fights than he breaks up.” Maria’s smiling though and he can see the affection in her eyes. For all she rags on him he can tell they’re friends.

 

He doesn’t really know how to answer. He’s never told  _ anyone _ about Michael before. Hell, the closest he got was telling Maria about their first kiss, but he never told her his name. 

 

Maria’s looking at him inquisitively. He’s hoping she can make the connection without him having to say anything.

 

“He’s museum guy?” Maria asks him. Liz gasps. Guess Maria must’ve told her about that.

 

“Yeah.” He nods his head and he can’t fight the smile that threatens to overtake his face. That memory will always be his favorite.

 

“Holy shit!” Maria shrieks and almost falls out of her chair laughing. Liz looks at him for a minute and then laughs as well. He can’t help it, it’s contagious. He joins them in their laughter.

 

“I can’t believe you and Guerin?” Maria shakes her head.

 

“This makes sense. You’ve been together since you’ve been home?” She really is too perceptive for her own good.

 

He just nods his head. Liz is still giving him a weird look but he turns to Maria.

 

“But something happened? He hasn’t been in recently. And when I see him around he looks  _ sad _ .” Alex’s breath catches. He hates knowing that he’s caused Michael any pain. 

 

“Yeah…” He doesn’t want to talk about it and he’s hoping they don’t push.

 

“What happened when we were younger?” Liz asks. She seems oddly curious about this.

 

“Nothing…” He sighs. Now that it’s out there that he was with Michael, he was hoping that would’ve been the end of their questions. Guess not.

 

“Alex. C’mon what happened?” 

 

“My dad caught us. It got ugly. It was really bad.” He doesn’t know if he can even get into the details. He’s never said the words out loud before. 

 

“His broken hand...” Liz trails off. He looks at her shocked. He wasn’t sure anyone remembered. Especially the way Michael kept his hand hidden in his hoodie pocket until it healed into the mangled mess it is now. 

 

“Your dad did that?” Maria asks with tears in her eyes.

 

He nods his head. “With a hammer…” He chokes on the word hammer. He hangs his head. 

 

“Alex. I’m so sorry.” Maria takes his hand and squeezes it. 

 

“When did this happen?” Liz asks him. He’s momentarily surprised. But then he remembers that Liz deals in facts. It’s a welcome thought that not much has changed.

 

“The night Rosa…” He trails off, not wanting to upset her.

 

“My god. All of that and then…” Liz shakes her head as if she’s coming to a conclusion. 

 

“What? What are you talking about?” Alex asks her.

 

“Nothing sorry.” She says and seems to come back to herself.

 

“So. Now that we know mystery man is Guerin. How are you going to get him back?” Maria smiles as she hands them all drinks.

 

“I never said…” 

 

“Oh please. I can tell you love him. No need to fight it.” Maria laughs and Liz smiles at him. He can’t help it he smiles back. 

 

“Okay. What did you have in mind?” 

 

**~~~**

 

Michael’s tired. He’s barely gotten any sleep the last couple of nights since Isobel has been staying with him. She finally conceded to going to her parents so they could both get some real sleep. He’s jolted out of his thoughts by the sound of footsteps coming towards him.

 

“Michael?” Michael’s surprised at the sound of her voice. A voice he never expected to hear, let alone at his home.  _ What the hell is Liz Ortecho doing here _ ?

 

He stares at her. 

 

“Hi.” She says when she sees him.

 

“Hi…” He’s weary. Nothing good can come from this. 

 

“Can we talk?”

 

“Uh...sure?”

 

“I spoke to Isobel the other day. I wanted to help…”

 

He must be giving her a weird look because she sighs.

 

“I just… with everything Max said about that night and after talking to her. I want to know what happened to my sister and just thinking about it. If it wasn’t really her...well I want to know what happened.”

 

“Okay? So why aren’t you talking to Max? Why are you here?”

 

She looks down. “Max and I aren’t really talking right now…”

 

“Right.”

 

“It’s just...too much right now with him…”

 

“I get that.” She looks up at him. Something changes in her expression but he isn’t sure what. 

 

“I was there too ya know. I helped him. Hell I did most of the work.” He sighs. He doesn’t want to be having this conversation  _ at all _ .

 

“I know but I don’t lo….”

 

“Love me?” He laughs. It seems none of them can escape this night or their feelings. 

 

“Yeah…” She breathes out almost like she’s never admitted that out loud before. He knows the feeling. 

 

“And you were dealing with…” She trails off again, almost unsure. 

 

“Dealing with?” 

 

“Well everything with Alex…”

 

He gasps. “How did you?”

 

“He told Maria and I the other day. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything…”

 

He’s frozen. He knows he should say something. Anything. But he can’t quite get his mouth to form the words.

 

“He loves you ya know?” 

 

“What?” He finally finds his voice. She nods her head. He feels warmth bloom in his chest. 

 

“I know it’s none of my business. I told him I wouldn’t intervene in whatever it is you guys have going on. But I want to know what happened to my sister. I  _ need  _ to know. And I need to help Isobel for that to happen. And you’ve protected Alex more than once. Kept this secret for him. Saved his life that day. From the way he tells it. And on top of the trauma from that night you then find your sister possibly possessed. I can see why you did what you did. In a way I can’t wrap my head around for Max yet…” 

 

He’s nodding his head at her. He’s shocked. He’s never heard her speak this much. Ever. 

 

“I want answers. I want the truth. For different reasons than you do. I know that. But I need to know. I need to know what happened that night. So… can you help me?”

 

“Yes.” 

 

**~~~**

 

Alex is strangely nervous. After telling Liz and Maria the truth about him and Michael and what happened all those years ago, he feels lighter. In a way he hasn’t felt since before that night. There’s only one thing left to do, before he can finally free himself from this. 

 

He walks up to the familiar Airstream and knocks. He waits a beat before the door opens. A weary looking Michael on the other side of the door.

 

“Alex.” Michael says resigned. Alex squares his shoulders and tugs on the backpack on his left shoulder a little.

 

“Hey...can we talk?” 

 

Michael steps aside and he walks into the trailer, slightly brushing up against Michael. Using his crutch to balance but also as a way to steady his breathing as he matches the sound it makes when it hits the ground. He turns to face Michael who’s still standing with a hand on the closed door handle. Michael raises an eyebrow at him and then huffs when a stray curl lands in his eye. It makes Alex smile. He sets the backpack down and points to the bed.

 

“May I?”

 

Michael nods and grabs a stool to sit on. 

 

“I told Maria and Liz about us. About what happened…”

 

“I know.”

 

“You know?” He isn’t sure if he’s relieved or nervous.

 

“Mmm. Liz came by. Told me you told her.”

 

“What was Liz doing here?”

 

“She saw Isobel at the hospital.” Michael shrugs. Alex knows he’s lying. But he doesn’t want to press the issue right now. 

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“Alex…”

 

“No. Let me say this.”

 

He sees Michael nod his head in response.

 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what I said at the drive in. I’m sorry for always assuming the worst. I’m sorry that I let my dad get into my head.  _ Again.  _ And I’m sorry. So, so sorry that you got hurt all those years ago. That I let my dad hurt you. Let him take music away from you.” He’s crying now. The words rushing out of him. He’s never said sorry to Michael before for the night that changed both of their lives. He feels it’s long overdue. 

 

He’s broken out of his thoughts by Michael who has grabbed him around his shoulders and pulled him into his chest. That makes him cry harder as he turns his face into Michael’s neck.

 

“No… Alex. None of that was your fault. None of it. Don’t ever apologize for that monster. Ever.” Michael has tears in his eyes as well and Alex can hear his rough breaths. 

 

“Being with you that day is my favorite memory.” Michael whispers. Alex looks up at him.

 

“Mine too.” He looks into Michael’s honey gold eyes and sees nothing but love reflected back at him. He leans up to kiss him. He can taste the salt from both of their tears. It makes him laugh. And then Michael is smiling at him and laughing too. 

 

He doesn’t want to ruin the moment but there are some more things he has to get off his chest and he doesn’t want to lose his nerve. He reaches down to grab his backpack. 

 

“I think I know why Liz was here. And I think that the reason she was here has to do with the reason Kyle was at the cabin a couple of weeks ago. And I have one last thing to tell you.” He pulls out the piece of glass that he found in the basement wall in his cabin. It lights up more now that he was able to clean the dirt off of the glass. 

 

Michael has gone stock still. Alex isn’t even sure he’s breathing. But then he tentatively reaches out with his scarred hand and runs his fingers over the glass. It comes to life in a different way than it does when Alex touches it. 

 

When he went to Kyle with the glass he seemed to know more than he was letting on. And Liz’s weird behavior the other day and the questions about Rosa’s death helped him put the pieces together. 

 

“Will you tell me about it?” Michael looks at him. Really looks at him. Alex thinks he’s deciding something. He must make a decision because he’s eyes go soft and he squeezes Alex’s hand. Alex only has a second to register that another piece of glass is floating in the air towards them. When Michael grabs it he sends a sheepish smile towards Alex.

 

Alex laughs. “How?”

 

“Alien.” 

 

Alex is really laughing now. He knew it was a possibility. He realizes now he’s probably always known. No way was this beautiful man anything other than other worldly. He kisses Michael again, because he just can’t get enough. 

 

Michael smiles. “Wasn’t the reaction I was thinking I’d get. But I’m not complaining.” 

 

“What else can you do?”

 

“I’ll show you.” 

 

Michael moves the glass out of their hands without touching it and slowly Alex feels himself being pushed onto the bed but Michael is still sitting and not touching him. He smirks.

 

“Come here.” He reaches out and grabs Michael who comes willing and lands on top of him. As he feels the belt on his jeans coming undone and the zipper pulled down while Michael’s hands are in his hair, he laughs. 

 

He looks into Michael’s eyes and smiles. He kisses him again. He knows that they have much more to talk about, much more to discuss and learn about each other. But all that can wait. Because in this moment, he’s kissing Michael Guerin again. And he can’t think of anything better. 

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Come find me on Tumblr - same username!


End file.
